Discover how Merle Liivand’s journey as an open-water swimmer led her to become an advocate and a part of Team Ocean.
Q: How did your love for swimming evolve into a mission to protect the ocean?
A: I started to swim because my lungs were about to collapse. It also set me to fight for something bigger. When I experienced many health problems and burnout in competitive swimming, I needed to find a new way to challenge my body mentally and physically. I went from pool swimming to Triathlon and fell in love with Open Water. Around 2016, I was training to represent my country in the Olympic Trials, and I faced more challenges during the practices. I had to stop every 200 m to pick up plastic and trash. At some point, I had plastic pieces in my mouth after taking a breath in every stroke. It was the scariest moment, and I realized it was not a question of achieving incredible podium spots. It was clear that Olympic sports like open water swimming and athletes will have more problems not swallowing the trash than a weather-related sport. It was a real wake-up call.
Q: Can you share a moment during one of your swims where you felt the ocean’s power or vulnerability?
A: In Open Water, you must learn how to practice swimming even in the most dangerous conditions. During my Guinness World Record swims, I had situations where even the swat team asked if I should finish the race. It takes everyday practice and mental strength to learn even critical thinking during the swims. One of the most challenging swims was my 30th birthday when I swam a 30 kilometers record. I started on a superheated day where I needed ice cubes under my swim cap so I would not overheat and have a heart attack. It got more dangerous every hour and escalated to 27 knots of wind current against me. I saw all my safety boats collapsing and kayakers almost drowning while trying to survive. Not to mention, at that point, I also was missing nutrition. Somehow, I finished, and the cherry on the top was that the Mayor of Miami Beach Proclaimed my birthday to officially be Merle Liivand Day. It speaks loudly about how the ocean might throw you all the challenges, but if you trust hardship, you might swim towards success. So keep swimming against the tide.
Q: How do you connect your swimming accomplishments to raising awareness for ocean conservation?
A: As a pool swimmer, I practiced a lot, learning how to move and use physical techniques from dolphins and otters. I practiced with Monofin swimming to implement nature knowledge into professional swimming. When I started to swim in open water sports, I was in a situation where I had to ask if future training camps and competitions were even possible or if there might be more cancellations than opportunities. I chose the Mermaid monofin to connect competitive swimming, human activism, and humanity towards animals and nature. I swim all my records without using my arms because animals get stuck in fishing nets and plastic. Sadly, I have experienced the same and knew since the beginning that I could not keep going just as an athlete. I needed to give back to the field where I play and swim. It is physically even more challenging to swim that way, but it is my way of waking people up to care about the field where we win our medals and tell extreme athletic stories.
Q: What motivates you to keep pushing boundaries, whether breaking records or advocating for cleaner waters?
A: It is more than clear every day that my sport cannot shine in the Olympics if we do not do something about it. Since the Rio Olympics, all of the Olympics have had pollution, or warm water problems that have caused health problems for athletes. Yes, we celebrate the outcome, but sadly, many athletes also have experienced lifetime changes after swimming in these waters. I know too many athletes who have been in hospital after swimming in murky waters. Not to mention that swimming in too warm water can affect women’s bodies for the rest of the female athlete’s life. It is happening more and more in front of even the public eye, and I know that if I do not see it and experience all these issues, I will not be effective. I also see a change. I have been in a position where I have asked some governments to cut single-use plastic and change the laws. I know that doing instead of talking is the only way to solve this problem. And that is why I am inspired to break and create more challenging records.
Q: What’s the most surprising or inspiring thing you’ve seen while swimming in open water?
A vacuum machine on the ocean floor. Like, really?! It took a boat to get that out! But besides finding trash, I have also found money and some really expensive sunglasses. So sometimes, one man’s trash might be another person’s gold!
Q: How do you balance your athletic goals with your mission to bring attention to environmental issues?
A: I only knew pool swimming when I grew up that was all I saw in the Olympics. But when I had my mental burnout journey, I knew I wanted to keep swimming but did not know how to keep myself excited. Mainly because I was born premature and have many health obstacles; I was diagnosed with asthma, extreme anemia, and digestion problems, which are still unheard of. But what has helped me become successful is my grit and will to figure out tools for functioning. And those tools are from nature. That keeps me mentally and physically already balanced to achieve higher goals. I have gone from swimming in the pool to competing in the Open Water Olympic Trials to win World Championship medals in Ice Swimming, where you face another extreme. Doing all that while raising awareness and building aquaprenaurial businesses has been more fun than ever. I know that sports businesses can not exist without a place where we exercise. If we don’t take the steps to protect our environment our sponsors, TV, and media cannot exist. That includes people like our coaches and the jobs that we go to each day. But here is the core—expansion has to be done in a way that does not kill the environment so we can have stability! Knowing and experiencing all that is why I wake up every day and am excited to hit the water! It is rewarding in so many ways.
Q: What do you hope people feel when they see your efforts to combine sport and activism?
A: I hope they are inspired by the fact that growing in a sport as an athlete and giving back are ways to improve the world. I own nine businesses, making many athletes want to enter the business side. But because I am out there raising awareness of fundamental issues in our sport—that is also a spot where I can get more done for the athletes and coaches. In 2025, it takes more than just winning a medal and then, at some point, walking away from sport. It takes a new level to be an idol and superhero. And that has to be done by caring about sustainability and the environment. Without that, soon we will no longer have healthy athletes telling sports stories. Without smarter sustainability decisions, we might not even have anything to broadcast to the world. That is where I can inspire people in sports to step up with their dreams and goals—give back 1% more than you took in sports. I even received a sustainability business award and got knighted as a Royal for my efforts, so it works and creates more miracles when you protect where you are taking momentum.
Q: If the ocean could speak to us directly, what message would it share about its current state?
A: Oceans are screaming. That is more than clear if you look at how many summer months the ocean temperature has become dangerous for human health. And not to mention that there are more cases of flesh-eating bacteria spots ALL around the world jumping high in statistics. I see more and more smaller plastic pieces while swimming, which is the scariest thing in my mind. I have experienced plastic in my mouth, and I must worry about not swallowing microplastic. But the ocean is also the most potent source out there. I have experienced miracles where corals have died under my belly but have also returned stronger. Our oceans must be constantly examined because if we lose them, we also lose oxygen. And I do not think athletes want to compete with oxygen masks on. So it is essential to protect and care about our field source—OCEAN!
Q: Do you have any other personal notes about why you’re excited to be part of this movement to Protect Where We Play?
A: This is what our sports world needs—without fields, we can not have athletic stories, fans, or movements to inspire. Without fields where we exercise, this time of the century has become even a question of whether we can train our sport. So many days, the athletic community is facing more and more if training conditions are safe. When we do not step up and not give back to our fields—we will not be able to succeed and become better, bigger, and stronger. It is mandatory to protect where we play because our generations of sports investment depend on it!
Merle is turning her passion into action, so we can keep on playing for generations to come. Are you ready? It’s time to #ProtectWhereWePlay!
